Three members of Denver’s homeless community Wednesday pleaded not guilty to violating the city’s camping ban as part of an effort to move their cases to trial and put the controversial camping prohibition under a greater legal microscope.
Jerry Burton, Terese Howard and Randy Russell are the first to enter not guilty pleas on charges of violating the ban since it was put in place more than four years ago. They were ticketed on Nov. 28 after they . Some of their belongings — like tents and blankets — were confiscated by Denver police and are being temporarily held as evidence.
That fact was seized upon by their attorney, Jason Flores-Williams, who called the move by the city an “interesting end-run” around due process for his clients.
“This is a proven example of criminalization of the poor,” Flores-Williams said after Wednesday morning’s hearing. “People aren’t supposed to be punished for it, but they are being punished for it.”
Amber Miller, a spokeswoman for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, said police only seized the belongings after asking the trio for six hours to move off the sidewalk. She said the city is reluctant to issue camping ban tickets — only 26 tickets have been issued since the ban went into effect in 2012 — and “is not a widespread approach the city takes.”
“Every step that the city takes — and our number one goal — is to connect people experiencing homelessness with services and a place indoors that is safe and warm,” Miller said. “All (the officers) were working towards was compliance.”
She provided a statement from the city attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the cases.
“Neither the unauthorized camping ordinance nor any other city law ‘criminalizes’ anyone simply for being homeless,” it said. “City laws are directed at a person’s behavior, not a person’s status in life, and are designed to protect public health and safety, including the safety of the person engaging in the behavior.”
Miller said Burton, Russell and Howard were part of an organized protest that evening and noted that the city provides hundreds of beds for the homeless every night. She said on Tuesday night this week, there were 200 available beds for people to use.
But Russell said the shelters in Denver have “300-plus men coughing all over you — with their germs.” Howard, who is a member of advocacy group Denver Homeless Out Loud, denied that the Nov. 28 incident was a protest, instead calling it an “act of survival in the Mayor’s face.”
She hopes the cases in which she and the others entered not-guilty pleas on Wednesday will lead to a closer examination of the overall legality of Denver’s camping ban.
“I think times have changed,” she said.
Members of Denver Homeless Out Loud , accusing the city of clearing downtown of the poor and displaced by conducting sweeps of homeless encampments to make way for new housing and economic development. There has been no ruling in that case.
Hancock earlier this month said that during cold weather months.
Howard, Russell and Burton were scheduled for a hearing Jan. 12 to set a date for trial.
